Before it was a hollow shell of its former self, Disney/Pixar had a tendency to overpower the possibility of success for other animated films. So this is a list of films that I noticed had the unfortunate displeasure of either competing with Disney or will forever remain in the shadow of a certain movie from Disney.
#10- Rugrats Go Wild: Overshadowed By Finding Nemo
Rugrats Go Wild is a 2003 crossover between Nickelodeon classics Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys. Though Finding Nemo (one of my favorite Pixar movies) was released about a month earlier, judging by both movie’s box-offices Rugrats Go Wild still had to face some tough competition against it. It also did not help that the film did have some controversy involving scratch and sniff cards and was received relatively poorly in comparison to the previous 2 Rugrats movies (second one especially) and the original Wild Thornberrys movie. Meanwhile, Finding Nemo pretty much DESTROYED the box-office and remains one of Pixar’s most financially successful films. And very well deserved to, I will never get sick of watching this movie. Have not seen Finding Dory and I don’t care enough to see it.
#9- The Swan Princess: Overshadowed By The Lion King
I have heard less than good things about this movie as well as its franchise that followed. It looks to me like one of those films that try too hard to match and compete with the Disney formula and fails miserably. Obviously based on Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, this movie pretty much bombed at the box-office due to a re-release of a certain Disney giant (and one of my favorite movies of all time) we all know and love as The Lion King. Like Finding Nemo, The Lion King deservedly destroyed the box-office. Swan Princess barely had a fighting chance considering Lion King’s massive success and the former’s mediocre reviews. I also heard that Disney "sabotaged" Swan Princess’ release, but I don’t know if that's accurate. And even if it was, I don’t think it would’ve needed Disney’s help to crash.
#8- The King & I: Overshadowed By Doug's 1st Movie
This selection is kind of an odd case since neither of these movies are really remembered or were well received, though I’m still gonna go ahead and count them. First off; did The King & I really need an animated version? Because I don’t think that was necessary. From what it looks like, most people didn’t think it was necessary as this film also bombed at the box-office. While technically speaking this came out first, the film’s release coinciding with the Disney-distributed Doug’s 1st Movie probably didn’t help either. This is probably the only selection on this list that’s more of a lose-lose situation. However I do think The King & I gained somewhat of a cult following considering I’ve heard more about it than Doug. The most I’ve heard about Doug is more in regards to the TV show and not the movie.
#7- The Pebble & The Penguin: Overshadowed By A Goofy Movie
Don Bluth is one of the only people who can follow the Disney formula and succeed, he’s shown that multiple times with films like Land Before Time, An American Tail and many more. This is not one of those times however. The forgettable Pebble & The Penguin bombed so hard that the Don Bluth Entertainment’s division in Ireland went bankrupt. Meanwhile, Disney would release A Goofy Movie just a couple of days earlier. It didn’t explode like others, but it was still a small triumph and has been remembered fondly over the years. It is now a huge favorite among fans, including this girl. I LOVE this movie. Pebble & The Penguin may have been a blunder, but thankfully Bluth would go on to do Anastasia, a far more superior movie that actually rivals Disney by using its own formula to its advantage, just 2 years later.
#6- The Thief & The Cobbler: Overshadowed By Aladdin
This movie was such a hassle to make. One thing I didn’t even release about the movie was that the director for this movie Richard Williams also directed the animation department for Who Framed Roger Rabbit. And after Roger Rabbit succeeded, production for Thief & Cobbler finally started after going back and forth for several decades. Unfortunately scheduling and budget issues would plague the movie even further, not to mention Disney would release a similar and successful film called Aladdin in 1992. It didn’t even come out in the US until 1995, and the movie crashed and burned in the box-office. It is to my understanding that there is a debate on whether or not Disney basically stole Aladdin due to the similarities it has with Thief & Cobbler. I have never seen the latter and even if I have, I would probably still love Aladdin more regardless.
#5- Gulliver's Travels: Overshadowed By Snow White
I guess you can say this is the original case of Disney outshining other studios as we’re going WAY back to the ancient times of animation. In 1939, Paramount (which I honestly did not realize was that old) released an animated adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels. Unfortunately despite being two-years younger, the film remains largely unnoticed due to Disney making history with Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs in 1937. Hell, the reason this film even went into production was to hopefully copy Disney’s success. Though the film did receive some Oscar nominations, it lost them both to Wizard Of Oz, which came out several months prior to this. So not only was this movie overshadowed by Disney, but also Wizard Of Oz. This poor film could not stand a chance. Oh well, it is what it is.
#4- All Dogs Go To Heaven: Overshadowed By The Little Mermaid
Don Bluth returns for another selection. All Dogs Go To Heaven centers on a swindling murdered dog victim named Charlie, who returns to Earth after breaking out of Heaven and befriends a little girl who can speak to animals. Charlie is also told that if he dies again, he will go to Hell this time. While the movie itself is a cute and relatively harmless film, it made the idiotic mistake of releasing on the same day as The Little Mermaid. The film was often compared negatively to The Little Mermaid. And though All Dogs is looked back fondly currently, even now it’s still underrated and pretty much everything about The Little Mermaid screams ICONIC with its incredible songs and memorable characters. It introduced the world to Ariel after all. All Dogs did fine in the box-office, but the film getting its but kicked by The Little Mermaid was pretty inevitable.
#3- Balto: Overshadowed By Toy Story
Balto was based on the true events of a dog delivering medicine to sick children when their town is hit hard with a bad case of diphtheria. The movie actually had a relatively established cast, including Kevin Bacon and Phil Collins. The film appears to be looked upon decently both back then and now, but unfortunately the film was a financial failure due to the grand debut of the revolutionary franchise that is Toy Story. Toy Story had been out for a month, and it was STILL popular. And I think it’s safe to say that Toy Story 5 (despite having absolutely NO reason to exist) is further proof of this movie’s impact and legacy. So like the previous selection, Balto’s failure was kind of inevitable. Though the film would go on to have 2 direct-to-video sequels. In other words; they’re probably cheap as HELL!
#2- The Snow Queen: Overshadowed By Frozen
So Russian animation studio Voronezh (formerly Wizart) created a film adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson classic about Gerda’s journey to save her friend Kai (though they are often portrayed as siblings in most adaptations). Technically speaking this came out first as this was released in Russia in 2012. However it didn’t release in the US until October of 2013, one month before a certain Disney retelling of the Snow Queen would release and basically take over the planet. This movie was HEAVILY compared to Frozen. And while The Snow Queen was slightly applauded for being more faithful to the original story, Frozen would gross over a billion dollars, win 2 Oscars and spark Disney’s next big franchise (third installment comes out next year). Snow Queen has a franchise as well, though I highly doubt anyone even knows they exist.
Before I reveal my top pick, here are some honorable mentions...........................
-Kind of overshadowed by Coco -Overshadowed By Dumbo
-Both Toy Story 4 AND Frozen 2
#1- Antz: Overshadowed By A Bug's Life
How can we have this list and not speak about this awkward situation? I feel like Pixar and Dreamworks have been at each other’s throats for decades and this I'm assuming is the reason why. Antz was originally pitched to Disney, but Jeffrey Katzenberg would eventually start Dreamworks due to tension. And things got even worse when production for A Bug’s Life started. The 2 movies are obviously similar and a very public feud has begun. Antz was well received at the time of its release and is relatively remembered fondly today, but is also considered underrated. A Bug’s Life on the other hand outgrossed Antz, and continues to cast a shadow over Antz as well, which has got to sting for Dreamworks. In terms of my views on both movies, I have never seen Antz and don’t care enough to see it while I absolutely DESPISE A Bug’s Life with a burning passion. But that’s just me.
The link to the Google Slides is down below as always. Thanks For Reading
Google-https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1X0gz2doXUd80loDvprJCJelEyk62f5WK7C7UMdK0l3w/edit?usp=sharing
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